The story of David #Villa: the fundamental goals for his #Spain at the #World Cup and the transition to #Barcelona. ⤵️

The area robber who took Spain to the semifinals of a World Cup in four days: the story of David Villa

Two goals in four days and you take your national team to the semifinals of a World Cup . Yes, it really happened. Let's talk about David Villa , one of the heroes of Spain, world champions in the 2010 South African World Cup.

The striker born in 1981, nicknamed " El Guaye " had contributed to the triumph of his national team, scoring heavy and decisive goals, such as those that eliminated Portugal and Paraguay, in the middle of his transfer from Valencia to Barcelona. Among other things, the Asturian is the best scorer in the history of the Spanish national team, with 98 goals in 59 appearances.

Who is David Villa: the beginnings

David Villa Sánchez was born on 3 December 1981 in Tuilla , in the Spanish municipality of Langreo in Asturias, an autonomous community which a few months earlier gave birth to another phenomenon of world sport, the two cultured Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso , born in the nearby Oviedo. He was the classic area robber , like Inzaghi: he was able to hide among the central defenders of the opposing defenses, exploiting the dirty work of his teammates in the ball possession phase.

After his debut in the youth academy of his hometown team, his career took off at Sporting Gijón , in the Segunda Division, where he scored 38 goals in 79 appearances. In La Liga he made his debut in 2003–04 at Real Zaragoza , with 32 goals in 73 appearances over two seasons. The newly promoted team, with Villa in the field, wins the Copa del Rey in the final against Real Madrid (scoring the momentary 1-2 on 2-3 final after extra time) and the 2004 Spanish Super Cup against Valencia : these are still the last two trophies of the Aragonese club.

David Villa's successes with clubs

From there, David Villa's career will be a crescendo, between Valencia, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid . The striker won everything there was to win : 3 Spanish championships, 2 more Copa del Rey, 2 more Spanish Super Cups, with the icing on the cake of the triptych Champions League, European Super Cup and Club World Cup in Blaugrana , in that 2010-2011 in which the Catalans won 4 out of 5 trophies.

In his final years as a footballer before retiring, Villa played for Melbourne City in Australia, New York City in the US and Vissel Kobe in Japan, where he won his latest title, the 2019 Emperor's Cup. the boots on 1 February 2020, at the age of 38, after 338 goals in 665 appearances in all competitions played

Villa and the Spanish national team

In the golden years of his playing career, David Villa was instrumental in the triumphs of the Spain national team in Europe and around the world . After making his debut for Spain in the 2005 World Cup qualifiers and scoring his first goal for the national team on November 16 of that year in Bratislava against Slovakia, "El Guaje" made his debut in the 2006 Germany World Cup against Ukraine , immediately scoring two goals in the 4-0 aggregate victory of the Red Furies .

After three victories in the group stage, Spain's run in that world championship ended in the round of 16 in Hanover, with France winning 1-3 . The Spaniards' goal was scored by Villa in the 28th minute, before the comeback of the vice-world champions of that edition with Ribery, Vieira and Zidane, with the last two goals scored in the last 10 minutes.

The 2010 World Cup: Villa decisive

The Iberian national team redeemed itself, and with interest, 4 years later, after winning the 2008 European Championship. There, Villa was hurt in the semifinals, after scoring 4 goals in two matches in the first round. South Africa 2010, therefore, was the international competition for redemption, both for Spain and for David Villa . The striker scored twice against Honduras on the second day of the group stage in the 2-0 final, then made the momentary 0-1 against Chile on the third, in the match which ended 1-2.

Villa was decisive between 29 June and 3 July 2010 , when two of his goals took Spain to the semi-finals. Portugal 's all-time rivals were in the round of 16 : in the 62nd minute Llorente served "El Guaje" in the area, who after the check tried the conclusion, Eduardo rejected the Asturian striker on the feet who slipped into the net . Four days later Paraguay awaited the Red Furies and the match was decided 7 minutes from the end, when Villa supported the net after Iniesta's post , at the end of a masterful action, and brought Spain into the top 4 in the world. By the way, right between these two goals, on July 1, 2010the negotiation that brought "El Guaje" to Barcelona for 40 million euros was concluded.

Among other things, the national team won the four decisive matches to win the World Cup 1-0 (Portugal, Paraguay, Germany in the semifinals and the Netherlands in the final). In addition to the World Cup, David Villa won the silver boot for the World Cup vice-top scorer with 5 goals : in South Africa 2010, 5 players closed the competition with 5 goals scored , i.e. Thomas Müller, David Villa, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Forlan . Fifa rewarded the German because he had also made 3 assists , while Villa placed second thanks to fewer minutes played and the best scoring average of 5 goals in 7 games played. After that World Cup, among other things, his valuation, according to Transfermarkt, in August 2010 rose to 50 million euros .

David Villa's records in the World Cup

In Brazil 2014 he played only the third match against Australia , after missing the defeats against the Netherlands and Chile: he scored the goal of the momentary 0-1 in the 35th minute in the final 0-3 of the Red Furies, however managing to score in three different editions of a World Championship.

Germany 2006, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014 were the three World Cups played by David Villa, in which he scored 9 goals overall , making him the best Spanish scorer in the history of the World Championships. Among the strongest players ever with the same number of goals, there are "our" Cristian Vieri, Roberto Baggio and Paolo Rossi , the Brazilians Ademir, Jairzinho and Vavá , the Portuguese Eusébio and the Germans Rumenigge and Seeler . Not bad for a boy who left Asturias to conquer Europe and the world.